eBay Cell Phone purchase - What do I need to do to protect myself?
December 9, 2016 9:12 AM   Subscribe

I just bought a discounted Google Pixel Phone from an ebay seller with high ratings. The eBay seller appears to only sell used cell phones. What do I need to do to protect myself, and what mechanisms will I have if there are problems later on?

Every smartphone I've had since 2007 I've bought on eBay, used, without issue. This is the first I've bought a used phone when it was released the same year and is currently a hot commodity, and it makes me feel weird that people are selling their barely-used phones through vendors like this.

The seller has a 97% rating and over a thousand reviews, and on every negative review the seller claims to have fully refunded the buyer. The phone is used, and didn't come with the box or usb cable, which makes me question it's provenance, but I have no reason to suspect it was actually stolen.

Here's what I've done:
* I've checked the IMEI number, and it's clean and not blacklisted. (How does IMEI blacklisting work? If someone does report it stolen later on it could be bricked and locked remotely?)

* I think I have 30 days to dispute a transaction with the eBay seller and return the items.
* Paypal dispute resolution - 180 days
* Credit card chargeback via Paypal - 120 days from date order is placed.
* I have factory wiped the phone immediately upon receipt.

Anything else I should be thinking about?
posted by Karaage to Shopping (5 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Yeah, it's possible someone bought it as a discount device on a new contract and actually used a device they already owned, selling this one for a profit.
posted by cnc at 10:01 AM on December 9, 2016


If someone does report it stolen later on it could be bricked and locked remotely?

I am in a similar situation (although I bought my phone on Swappa) and according to AT&T the answer to this is yes, the phone could be reported stolen later on and bricked.

I figure that (1) If it is legitimately stolen, the owner will probably report it earlier than 180 days and (2) The type of people that try to scam the system (report the phone stolen so they can claim on insurance) don't have the patience to wait 180 days.

You bought from a reputable seller (and BTW, most phones I saw from resellers came without a box and cables so that doesn't seem unusual to me), and you've done all you can. I don't think you have anything to worry about
posted by Shal at 10:20 AM on December 9, 2016


You might want to check up on what the current state of the world is with resold Pixels. Last month there was a small hubbub when Google went and bricked Pixel phones that were detected as being resold from online vendors.

Article claims that Google has reversed their position, but still considers resold Pixels as a TOS violation.
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:56 AM on December 9, 2016


Just FYI, 97% is a pretty low seller rating on eBay. I would not have bought something like this from a seller lower than 99%. It sounds like you will be fine, but be careful on future deals.
posted by SLC Mom at 11:41 AM on December 9, 2016 [1 favorite]


It's possible it's a grey market phone. A lot of times the warranty won't be honored on grey market electronics.
posted by gregr at 12:57 PM on December 9, 2016


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